Mobile Food in Albuquerque

I'm not a Southwest CHOW regular, but used to live in ABQ in 2004-05. Hadn't been back until this past week, when I drove through ABQ on a work trip to northern NM. Prior to my trip, I wasn't able to research how the food scene has changed in recent years. Plus, I only had time for a quick meal in ABQ, so I was hoping to just come across a taco truck or something of the sort. I did find one--and enjoyed it--but in looking at CHOW archives now, it doesn't seem like there's been any discussion on this topic. So I figured it might be a good idea to start a discussion on this topic, such that it may serve as a resource for anyone looking to chow at food trucks in ABQ.

The truck I found:

In Bernalillo, in the parking lot of the car wash/gas station on the SW corner of US Hwy 550 & Camino Don Tomas. It's a little white trailer that was selling green chile hot dogs ($4), green chile cheeseburgers ($5), burritos (~$5), quesadillas (~$4), and tacos. They were also selling Mexican sodas and those chile lollipops and other snacks. Picnic table with umbrella available for "dining in", but they'll pack your food to go if so desired. Sweet lady working as the grillmaster.

I was alone, so ordering more than one item would've been unreasonable. I finally narrowed it down to the green chile cheeseburger. Really good. Not the *best* gcc I've ever had, but very honest and unpretentious. Generous burger patty, a good 1/3 lb. Fluffy bun, buttery avocado, smooth melted jack cheese, and a smoky, scorching smother of green chile. Definitely worth $5. And for those living in ABQ, it's worth a drive up to Bernalillo to check this trailer out--for a cheap and unique dining experience.

It seems like recently Albuquerque's been trying to get some Portland-like food truck pods going around the city. They've even set up an Abq Mobile Food Task Force. The most developed pod so far seems to be in the Ta Lin International Market parking lot (Louisiana just south of Central). Some of the trucks there are the Gedunk Food Truck (homey American), Alison's (Mexican), Big John's BBQ, Oz Patisserie (dessert), Good Food Eat Here (vegetarian), Make My Lunch ("healthy" sandwiches and wraps) and The Zingaro (hot dogs and burgers with unusual toppings). I think there's another pod at San Pedro and Marble. I don't know that the food at any of them is really outstanding, but they're a pretty good value and a nice, fun addition to the Albuquerque food scene.

There's also Tamale Loco, a little cart that has like 5 or 6 tamales that change daily, plus agua fresca. Corner of Silver and Wellesley at lunch, in front of Tractor Brewing Company at dinner. The day I went it was watermelon-lemon-lavender agua fresca, and I had an apple-bacon-cheese (?) and an eggplant-something tamale. Pretty tasty (though they mix the stuff in with the masa instead of stuffing it, which I would prefer). There was an article in Local IQ: http://www.local-iq.com/index.php?opt...